Second annual El Paso Fashion Week showcases local designers

Local designer Lizette Arenas of Obscurity models one of her dresses which will be showcased at El Paso Fashion Week. (Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)

The second annual El Paso Fashion Week is about fashion, of course. But it's also about promoting El Paso and its talent, organizers said.

"We see it as one of El Paso's premiere events when it comes to uniting the fashion community of El Paso," said Megan L. Jantos, publicity director. "But it's really important to us to show El Paso as a happening place. We have our own style, it's eclectic and we have influences from the border. So we really want to get the word out about what's going on in El Paso on a national level because people don't typically think of El Paso as being a fashion epicenter."

Fashion Week, sponsored by Lijuro Productions and Southwest University, will feature a variety of fashion shows focusing on a Fallen Angels theme and related events. The week kicks off with a White Party Friday night at the Lotus Nightclub Downtown.

The week will bring together four up-and-coming fashion designers from El Paso: Erika and Monika Aguirre for Mona, Henry Guillen for Rhythm and Trend, Lizette Arenas for Obscurity and Martha Hughes for Kids Rock Couture.

It also will include designer Pere Ibarra from Corpus Christi, nationally known California designer Andrew Christian and Mexican designer Armando Rodriguez.

Jantos said local designers will provide show designs ranging from children's clothes to menswear to sophisticated women's fashion.

Dark Designer

Arenas, 25, said she has been sketching fashions since she was about 17.

"I would say 'one day I'm not just going to draw but I'm actually going to make them'," she said.

About two years after graduating from Horizon High School, she enrolled in the fashion design program at El Paso Community College. That's where she honed her design and sewing skills and created her first collection. She had her first fashion show in May 2012 and has since graduated.

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María Cortés González

Jantos said her personal style has always been dark, perhaps a little "goth" in high school.

Black is still her go-to color but she says her style has matured, while retaining the integrity of who she is as a designer.

"I'm drawn to darkness because it brings mystery and stands out -- that's what I like about making clothes dark," she said.

For this fashion challenge, Arenas said she had fun creating clothes that reflect an army of fallen angels incorporating beautiful black feathers, bondage-inspired straps and plenty of black spandex and latex.

"Latex is kind of tricky to work with but I wanted that wet, liquid look and fluidity," she said. "I love challenges."

The young designer will feature her collection at the grande finale, a fashion show Oct. 19 at Southwest University. The evening will end with Latin Grammy Award-winner Julieta Venegas in concert.

Arenas said she is excited to get exposure for her designs. Her collection will feature 10 pieces including shorts, pants and evening wear.

"I want to build an inventory and little by little build a website and start my business," she said. Her Facebook page is ObscurityDesigns.

Flair for underwear

Andrew Christian, a fashion designer from Los Angeles who appeared on the Bravo Network's "The Fashion Show" will be visiting El Paso for the first time for Fashion Week. His fashion show on Oct. 19 is sure to cause a stir -- he's known for his underwear for men. And these are not your grandfather's nor your younger uncle's underwear.

"My first collection was in 1997 and it was all sportswear but then about seven years ago I started doing underwear and that's what I've been known for ever since," he said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "And I don't mind -- it's fun, it's not your regular pair of tighty-whiteys. There's nothing white in my collection. The colors are fun and optimistic."

Christian said his underwear designs are inspired by his sportswear lines. At his fashion show next week, he will be featuring his fall collection of men's underwear.

"It's going to get the crowd going and excited. We have some reds, some bright teals and some different striped prints in there."

Christian, who uses eco-friendly materials including bamboo fibers, said his underwear is as comfortable as it is stylish.

"It's the closest thing to your body so it has to be very comfortable," he said.

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